Shakespeare Quotes - Famous Lines From Sonnets & Plays Shakespeare Quotes Famous Lines from the Plays and Sonnets There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. -Hamlet There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. -Hamlet Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. -Hamlet When sorrows come, they come not single spies. But in battalions! -Hamlet To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and, by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub. For in this sleep of death what dreams may come…. -Hamlet Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.

-Hamlet God hath given you one face, and you make yourself another. -Hamlet Conscience doth make cowards of us all. -Hamlet One may smile, and smile, and be a villain. -Hamlet The lady doth protest too much, methinks. -Hamlet This above all: to think own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. -Hamlet From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered- We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition; And gentlemen in England now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day. -Henry V Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs. -Romeo and Juliet Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow.

-Romeo and Juliet By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. -Macbeth Do you not know I am a woman? when I think, I must speak. -As You Like It I do love nothing in the world so well as you – is not that strange? -Much Ado About Nothing Lord, what fools these mortals be! -A Midsummer Night’s Dream Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, Men were deceivers ever,- One foot in sea and one on shore, To one thing constant never. -Much Ado About Nothing Let me be that I am and seek not to alter me. -Much Ado About Nothing All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exists and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. -As You Like It The course of true love never did run smooth. -A Midsummer Night’s Dream Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come.

-Julius Caesar Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus; and we petty men Walk under his huge legs, and peep about To find ourselves dishonourable graves. -Julius Caesar Men at some time are masters of their fates. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings. -Julius Caesar O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-ey’d monster, which doth mock The meat it feeds on. -Othello All that glisters is not gold; Often have you heard that told: Many a man his life hath sold But my outside to behold: Gilded tombs do worms enfold. -The Merchant of Venice The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. -The Merchant of Venice Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow. -Romeo and Juliet Better three hours too soon than a minute too late. -The Merry Wives of Windsor Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast. -Romeo and Juliet But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. -Romeo and Juliet To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. What’s done cannot be undone. -Macbeth Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble! -Macbeth Let not light see my black and deep desires. -Macbeth The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. -As You Like It Hell is empty and all the devils are here. -The Tempest Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them -Twelfth Night Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.

-All’s Well That Ends Well If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it; that surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die. -Twelfth Night The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers. -King Henry VI, Part Two Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. -The Tempest What’s past is prologue. -The Tempest Me, poor man, my library Was dukedom large enough.

No Fear Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Act 3, Scene 2, Page 5 A Midsummer Night’s Dream (squeezing flower juice into DEMETRIUS ’s eyes) Flower of this purple dye, Hit with Cupid’s archery, Sink in apple of his eye. When his love he doth espy, Let her shine as gloriously As the Venus of the sky. When thou wakest, if she be by, Beg of her for remedy. OBERON (putting flower juice on DEMETRIUS ’s eyelids) You purple flower, hit by Cupid’s arrow, sink into the pupils of this man’s eyes. When he sees the girl he should love, make her seem as bright to him as the evening star. Young man, when you wake up, if she’s nearby, beg her to cure your lovesickness. Enter ROBIN Captain of our fairy band, Helena is here at hand, And the youth, mistook by me, Pleading for a lover’s fee. Shall we their fond pageant see? Lord, what fools these mortals be! ROBIN Helena is nearby, boss.

The young man who I mistook for this one is there too, begging her to love him. Should we watch this ridiculous scene? Lord, what fools these mortals are! OBERON Stand aside. The noise they make Will cause Demetrius to awake. OBERON Step aside. The noise they’re making will wake up Demetrius. 120 Then will two at once woo one. That must needs be sport alone. And those things do best please me That befall preposterously. ROBIN Then the two of them will both pursue one girl. That will be funny enough, and preposterous situations are my favorite thing. Enter LYSANDER and HELENA What fools these mortals be What fools these mortals be William Shakespeare Quotes Home "What fools these mortals be" - A Famous Quote by William Shakespeare This famous quote originated in the play by William Shakespeare. This section provides answers to the following questions about this famous Shakespeare quote: Who said that? Which play the quote come from? What was the name of the speaker? In which Act or Scene can the whole quote, or saying, be found?

Shakespeare Quote - "What fools these mortals be" Puck: Captain of our fairy band, Helena is here at hand, And the youth, mistook by me, Pleading for a lover's fee. Shall we their fond pageant see? Lord, what fools these mortals be! A Midsummer Nights Dream Act 3, Scene 2 Famous Shakespeare Quote Although set in different times many of the most famous quotes about life and love by William Shakespeare are still relevant today. Did you know that William Shakespeare is credited by the Oxford English Dictionary with the introduction of nearly 3,000 words into the language. It's no wonder that expressions from his works in literature, including the "What fools these mortals be" quote, are an 'anonymous' part of the English language. Many people continue to use this "What fools these mortals be" quote by William Shakespeare in famous quotes about life. "What fools these mortals be" "What fools these mortals be" Who said that? Which play did the quote come from? What was the name of the speaker? In which Act or Scene can the whole quote, or saying, be found?

Short Famous Quotes about life from Famous Shakespeare Quotes What fools these mortals be What fools these mortals be - Famous Shakespeare Quote - Book - Speaker - Play - Line - Lines - Quote - Qoute - William Shakespeare - Act - Scene - Soliloquy - Origin - Saying - Name - Meaning - Quotation - Phrase - Book - Speaker - Play - Line - Lines - Book - Speaker - Play - Line - Lines - Quote - Qoute - William Shakespeare - Act - Scene - Soliloquy - Origin - Saying - Name - Meaning - Quotation - Phrase - Book - Speaker - Play - Line - Lines - What fools these mortals be - Written By Linda Alchin Famous Shakespeare Quotes: Top 50 Shakespeare Quotes 2. All the world ‘s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts. ( As You Like it ) 3. Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? ( Romeo and Juliet ) 5. Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? ( Macbeth ) 6. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

( Twelfth Night ) 7. Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once. ( Julius Caesar ) 8. Full fathom five thy father lies, of his bones are coral made. Those are pearls that were his eyes. Nothing of him that doth fade, but doth suffer a sea-change into something rich and strange. (The Tempest) 9. A man can die but once. (Henry IV, Part 2) 10. How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child! (King Lear) 11. By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap to pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon, or dive into the bottom of the deep, where fathom-line could never touch the ground, and pluck up drowned honour by the locks. (Henry IV Part 1) 12. If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? (The Merchant of Venice) 13. I am one who loved not wisely but too well.

(Othello) 14. If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men’s cottage princes’ palaces. (The Merchant of Venice) 15. We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep. (The Tempest) 16. Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. ( Macbeth ) 17. Beware the Ides of March. ( Julius Caesar ) 18. Get thee to a nunnery. ( Hamlet ) 19. If music be the food of love play on. ( Twelfth Night ) 21. As merry as the day is long. ( Much Ado about Nothing ) 22. To thine own self be true. ( Hamlet ) 23. All that glisters is not gold. (The Merchant of Venice) 25. Nothing will come of nothing. (King Lear) 26.

The course of true love never did run smooth. (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) 27. Lord, what fools these mortals be! (A Midsummer Night’s dream) 28. Whoever loved that loved not at first sight? (As You Like It) 29. There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. ( Hamlet ) 30. A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse! (Richard III) 31. Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day. (Macbeth) 32. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) 33. The fault, dear Brutus, lies not within the stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings. (Julius Caesar) 34. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18) 35. Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. (Sonnet 116) 36.

He doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus; and we petty men walk under his huge legs, and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves. (Julius Caesar) 37. But, for my own part, it was Greek to me. (Julius Caesar) 38. Neither a borrower nor a lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. ( Hamlet ) 39. The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne, burn’d on the water. (Antony and Cleopatra) 40. Off with his head! (Richard III) 41. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. (Henry IV, Part 2) 42. Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. ( The Tempest ) 43. This is very midsummer madness. (Twelfth Night) 44. Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps. (Much Ado about Nothing) 45. I cannot tell what the dickens his name is. (The Merry Wives of Windsor) 46.

We have seen better days. ( Timon of Athens ) 47. I am a man more sinned against than sinning. ( King Lear ) 48. Golden lads and girls all must, as chimney-sweepers, come to dust. ( Cymbeline ) 49. This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle…This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. ( Richard II ) What do you think – any famous Shakespeare quotes missing from the above list? 98 replies A Midsummer-Night's Dream. Act III. Scene II. William Shakespeare. 1914. The Oxford Shakespeare What night-rule now about this haunted grove? Puck. My mistress with a monster is in love. Near to her close and consecrated bower, While she was in her dull and sleeping hour, A crew of patches, rude mechanicals, That work for bread upon Athenian stalls, Were met together to rehearse a play Intended for great Theseus nuptial day.

The shallowest thick-skin of that barren sort, Who Pyramus presented in their sport Forsook his scene, and enterd in a brake, When I did him at this advantage take; An asss nowl I fixed on his head: Anon his Thisbe must be answered, And forth my mimick comes. When they him spy, As wild geese that the creeping fowler eye, Or russet-pated choughs, many in sort, Rising and cawing at the guns report, Sever themselves, and madly sweep the sky; So, at his sight, away his fellows fly, And, at our stamp, here oer and oer one falls; He murder cries, and help from Athens calls. Their sense thus weak, lost with their fears thus strong, Made senseless things begin to do them wrong; For briers and thorns at their apparel snatch; Some sleeves, some hats, from yielders all things catch. I led them on in this distracted fear, And left sweet Pyramus translated there; When in that moment, so it came to pass, Titania wakd and straightway lovd an ass. Obe.

This falls out better than I could devise. But hast thou yet latchd the Athenians eyes With the love-juice, as I did bid thee do? Puck. I took him sleeping,that is finishd too, And the Athenian woman by his side; That, when he wakd, of force she must be eyd. As he to me. Would he have stoln away From sleeping Hermia? Ill believe as soon This whole earth may be bord, and that the moon May through the centre creep, and so displease Her brothers noontide with the Antipodes. It cannot be but thou hast murderd him; So should a murderer look, so dead, so grim. Dem. So should the murderd look, and so should I, Piered through the heart with your stern cruelty; Yet you, the murderer, look as bright, as clear, As yonder Venus in her glimmering sphere. Her. Whats this to my Lysander? where is he? Ah! good Demetrius, wilt thou give him me? Dem.

I had rather give his carcass to my hounds. Her. Out, dog! out, cur! thou drivst me past the bounds Of maidens patience. Hast thou slain him then? Henceforth be never numberd among men! O! once tell true, tell true, een for my sake; Durst thou have lookd upon him being awake, And hast thou killd him sleeping? O brave touch! Could not a worm, an adder, do so much? An adder did it; for with doubler tongue Than thine, thou serpent, never adder stung. Dem. You spend your passion on a misprisd mood: I am not guilty of Lysanders blood, Nor is he dead, for aught that I can tell. Her. I pray thee, tell me then that he is well. Dem. An if I could, what should I get therefore? Her. A privilege never to see me more. And from thy hated presence part I so; See me no more, wher he be dead or no. [Exit. Dem.

There is no following her in this fierce vein: Here therefore for a while I will remain. So sorrows heaviness doth heavier grow For debt that bankrupt sleep doth sorrow owe; Which now in some slight measure it will pay, If for his tender here I make some stay. [Lies down and sleeps. Obe. What hast thou done? thou hast mistaken quite, And laid the love-juice on some true-loves sight: Of thy misprision must perforce ensue Some true-love turnd, and not a false turnd true. Puck. Then fate oer-rules, that, one man holding troth, A million fail, confounding oath on oath. Obe. About the wood go swifter than the wind, And Helena of Athens look thou find: All fancy-sick she is, and pale of cheer With sighs of love, that cost the fresh blood dear. By some illusion see thou bring her here: Ill charm his eyes against she do appear. Puck. I go, I go; look how I go; Swifter than arrow from the Tartars bow. [Exit. Obe.

Flower of this purple dye, Hit with Cupids archery, Sink in apple of his eye. When his love he doth espy, Let her shine as gloriously As the Venus of the sky. When thou wakst, if she be by, Beg of her for remedy. Lys. Why should you think that I should woo in scorn? Scorn and derision never come in tears: Look, when I vow, I weep; and vows so born, In their nativity all truth appears. How can these things in me seem scorn to you, Bearing the badge of faith to prove them true? Hel. You do advance your cunning more and more. When truth kills truth, O devilish-holy fray! These vows are Hermias: will you give her oer? Weigh oath with oath, and you will nothing weigh: Your vows, to her and me, put in two scales, Will even weigh, and both as light as tales. Lys. I had no judgment when to her I swore. Hel. Nor none, in my mind, now you give her oer. Lys. Demetrius loves her, and he loves not you. Dem.

[Awaking.] O Helen! goddess, nymph, perfect, divine! To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne? Crystal is muddy. O! how ripe in show Thy lips, those kissing cherries, tempting grow; This pure congealed white, high Taurus snow, Fannd with the eastern wind, turns to a crow When thou holdst up thy hand. O! let me kiss That princess of pure white, this seal of bliss. Hel. O spite! O hell! I see you all are bent To set against me for your merriment: If you were civil and knew courtesy, You would not do me thus much injury. Can you not hate me, as I know you do, But you must join in souls to mock me too? If you were men, as men you are in show, You would not use a gentle lady so; To vow, and swear, and superpraise my parts, When I am sure you hate me with your hearts.

You both are rivals, and love Hermia, And now both rivals, to mock Helena: A trim exploit, a manly enterprise, To conjure tears up in a poor maids eyes With your derision! none of noble sort Would so offend a virgin, and extort A poor souls patience, all to make you sport. Lys. You are unkind, Demetrius; be not so; For you love Hermia; this you know I know: And here, with all good will, with all my heart, In Hermias love I yield you up my part; And yours of Helena to me bequeath, Whom I do love, and will do to my death. Hel. Never did mockers waste more idle breath. Dem. Lysander, keep thy Hermia; I will none: If eer I lovd her, all that love is gone. My heart with her but as guest-wise sojournd, And now to Helen it is home returnd, There to remain. Lys. Helen, it is not so. Dem. Disparage not the faith thou dost not know, Lest to thy peril thou aby it dear. Look!

where thy love comes: yonder is thy dear. Her. Dark night, that from the eye his function takes, The ear more quick of apprehension makes; Wherein it doth impair the seeing sense, It pays the hearing double recompense. Thou art not by mine eye, Lysander, found; Mine ear, I thank it, brought me to thy sound. But why unkindly didst thou leave me so? Lys. Why should he stay, whom love doth press to go? Her. What love could press Lysander from my side? Lys. Lysanders love, that would not let him bide, Fair Helena, who more engilds the night Than all yon fiery oes and eyes of light. Why seekst thou me? could not this make thee know, The hate I bear thee made me leave thee so? Her. You speak not as you think: it cannot be. Hel. Lo! she is one of this confederacy. Now I perceive they have conjoind all three To fashion this false sport in spite of me. Injurious Hermia! most ungrateful maid!

Have you conspird, have you with these contrivd To bait me with this foul derision? Is all the counsel that we two have shard, The sister-vows, the hours that we have spent, When we have chid the hasty-footed time For parting us, O! is it all forgot? All school-days friendship, childhood innocence? We, Hermia, like two artificial gods, Have with our neelds created both one flower, Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion, Both warbling of one song, both in one key, As if our hands, our sides, voices, and minds, Had been incorporate. So we grew together, Like to a double cherry, seeming parted, But yet an union in partition; Two lovely berries moulded on one stem; So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart; Two of the first, like coats in heraldry, Due but to one, and crowned with one crest. And will you rent our ancient love asunder, To join with men in scorning your poor friend?

It is not friendly, tis not maidenly: Our sex, as well as I, may chide you for it, Though I alone do feel the injury. Her. I am amazed at your passionate words. I scorn you not: it seems that you scorn me. Hel. Have you not set Lysander, as in scorn, To follow me and praise my eyes and face, And made your other love, Demetrius, Who even but now did spurn me with his foot, To call me goddess, nymph, divine and rare, Precious, celestial? Wherefore speaks he this To her he hates? and wherefore doth Lysander Deny your love, so rich within his soul, And tender me, forsooth, affection, But by your setting on, by your consent? What though I be not so in grace as you, So hung upon with love, so fortunate, But miserable most to love unlovd? This you should pity rather than despise. Her. I understand not what you mean by this. Hel.

Ay, do, persever, counterfeit sad looks, Make mouths upon me when I turn my back; Wink each at other; hold the sweet jest up: This sport, well carried, shall be chronicled. If you have any pity, grace, or manners, You would not make me such an argument. But, fare ye well: tis partly mine own fault, Which death or absence soon shall remedy. Lys. Stay, gentle Helena! hear my excuse: My love, my life, my soul, fair Helena! Her. Lysander, whereto tends all this? Lys. Away, you Ethiop! Dem. No, no, hell Seem to break loose; take on, as you would follow, But yet come not: you are a tame man, go! Lys. [To HERMIA.] Hang off, thou cat, thou burr! vile thing, let loose, Or I will shake thee from me like a serpent. Her. Why are you grown so rude? what change is this, Sweet love, Lys. Thy love! out, tawny Tartar, out! Out, loathed medicine! hated poison, hence! Her.

Do you not jest? Hel. Yes, sooth; and so do you. Lys. Demetrius, I will keep my word with thee. Dem. I would I had your bond, for I perceive A weak bond holds you: Ill not trust your word. Lys. What! should I hurt her, strike her, kill her dead? Although I hate her, Ill not harm her so. Her. What! can you do me greater harm than hate? Hate me! wherefore? O me! what news, my love? Am not I Hermia? Are not you Lysander? I am as fair now as I was erewhile. Since night you lovd me; yet, since night you left me: Why, then you left me,O, the gods forbid! In earnest, shall I say? Lys. Ay, by my life; And never did desire to see thee more. Therefore be out of hope, of question, doubt; Be certain, nothing truer: tis no jest, That I do hate thee and love Helena. Her. O me! you juggler! you canker-blossom! You thief of love!

what! have you come by night And stoln my loves heart from him? Hel. Fine, i faith! Have you no modesty, no maiden shame, No touch of bashfulness? What! will you tear Impatient answers from my gentle tongue? Fie, fie! you counterfeit, you puppet you! Her. Puppet! why, so: ay, that way goes the game. Now I perceive that she hath made compare Between our statures: she hath urgd her height; And with her personage, her tall personage, Her height, forsooth, she hath prevaild with him. And are you grown so high in his esteem, Because I am so dwarfish and so low? How low am I, thou painted maypole? speak; How low am I? I am not yet so low But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes. Hel. I pray you, though you mock me, gentlemen, Let her not hurt me: I was never curst; I have no gift at all in shrewishness; I am a right maid for my cowardice: Let her not strike me.

You perhaps may think, Because she is something lower than myself, That I can match her. Her. Lower! hark, again. Hel. Good Hermia, do not be so bitter with me. I evermore did love you, Hermia, Did ever keep your counsels, never wrongd you; Save that, in love unto Demetrius, I told him of your stealth unto this wood. He followd you; for love I followd him; But he hath chid me hence, and threatend me To strike me, spurn me, nay, to kill me too: And now, so you will let me quiet go, To Athens will I bear my folly back, And follow you no further: let me go: You see how simple and how fond I am. Her. Why, get you gone. Who is t that hinders you? Hel. A foolish heart, that I leave here behind. Her. What! with Lysander? Lys. Be not afraid: she shall not harm thee, Helena. Dem. No, sir; she shall not, though you take her part. Hel. O!

when shes angry, she is keen and shrewd. She was a vixen when she went to school: And though she be but little, she is fierce. Her. Little again! nothing but low and little! Why will you suffer her to flout me thus? Let me come to her. Lys. Get you gone, you dwarf; You minimus, of hindering knot-grass made; You bead, you acorn! Hel. I will not trust you, I, Nor longer stay in your curst company. Your hands than mine are quicker for a fray, My legs are longer though, to run away. [Exit. Her. I am amazd, and know not what to say. [Exit. Obe. This is thy negligence: still thou mistakst, Or else commitst thy knaveries wilfully. Puck. Believe me, king of shadows, I mistook. Did not you tell me I should know the man By the Athenian garments he had on?

And so far blameless proves my enterprise, That I have nointed an Athenians eyes; And so far am I glad it so did sort, As this their jangling I esteem a sport. Obe. Thou seest these lovers seek a place to fight: Hie therefore, Robin, overcast the night; The starry welkin cover thou anon With drooping fog as black as Acheron; And lead these testy rivals so astray, As one come not within anothers way. Like to Lysander sometime frame thy tongue, Then stir Demetrius up with bitter wrong; And sometime rail thou like Demetrius; And from each other look thou lead them thus, Till oer their brows death-counterfeiting sleep With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep: Then crush this herb into Lysanders eye; Whose liquor hath this virtuous property, To take from thence all error with his might, And make his eyeballs roll with wonted sight. When they next wake, all this derision Shall seem a dream and fruitless vision; And back to Athens shall the lovers wend, With league whose date till death shall never end.

Whiles I in this affair do thee employ, Ill to my queen and beg her Indian boy; And then I will her charmed eye release From monsters view, and all things shall be peace. Puck. My fairy lord, this must be done with haste, For nights swift dragons cut the clouds full fast, And yonder shines Auroras harbinger; At whose approach, ghosts, wandering here and there, Troop home to churchyards: damned spirits all, That in cross-ways and floods have burial, Already to their wormy beds are gone; For fear lest day should look their shames upon, They wilfully themselves exile from light, And must for aye consort with black-browd night. Obe. But we are spirits of another sort. I with the mornings love have oft made sport; And, like a forester, the groves may tread, Even till the eastern gate, all fiery-red, Opening on Neptune with fair blessed beams, Turns into yellow gold his salt green streams. But, notwithstanding, haste; make no delay: We may effect this business yet ere day. [Exit OBERON. Puck.

Up and down, up and down; I will lead them up and down: I am feard in field and town; Goblin, lead them up and down. Here comes one. Hel. O weary night! O long and tedious night, Abate thy hours! shine, comforts, from the east! That I may back to Athens by daylight, From these that my poor company detest: And sleep, that sometimes shuts up sorrows eye, Steal me a while from mine own company. [Lies down and sleeps. Puck. Yet but three? Come one more; Two of both kinds make up four. Here she comes, curst and sad: Cupid is a knavish lad, Thus to make poor females mad. Her. Never so weary, never so in woe, Bedabbled with the dew and torn with briers, I can no further crawl, no further go; My legs can keep no pace with my desires. Here will I rest me till the break of day. Heavens shield Lysander, if they mean a fray! [Lies down and sleeps. Puck.

On the ground SparkNotes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Important Quotations Explained Important Quotations Explained A Midsummer Night’s Dream William Shakespeare Act V, scenes i–epilogue Key Facts Ay me, for aught that I could ever read, Could ever hear by tale or history, The course of true love never did run smooth. . . . Lysander speaks these lines to soothe Hermia when she despairs about the difficulties facing their love, specifically, that Egeus, her father, has forbidden them to marry and that Theseus has threatened her with death if she disobeys her father (I.i.132–134). Lysander tells Hermia that as long as there has been true love, there have been seemingly insurmountable difficulties to challenge it. He goes on to list a number of these difficulties, many of which later appear in the play: differences in birth or age (“misgrafted in respect of years”) and difficulties caused by friends or “war, death, or sickness,” which make love seem “swift as a shadow, short as any dream” (I.i.137, I.i.142–144).

But, as Hermia comments, lovers must persevere, treating their difficulties as a price that must be paid for romantic bliss. As such, the above lines inaugurate the play’s exploration of the theme of love’s difficulties and presage what lies ahead for Lysander and Hermia: they will face great difficulties but will persevere and ultimately arrive at a happy ending. 2. Through Athens I am thought as fair as she. But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so. He will not know what all but he do know. And as he errs, doting on Hermia’s eyes, So I, admiring of his qualities. Things base and vile, holding no quantity, Love can transpose to form and dignity. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. Helena utters these lines as she comments on the irrational nature of love. They are extremely important to the play’s overall presentation of love as erratic, inexplicable, and exceptionally powerful (I.i.227–235).

Distressed by the fact that her beloved Demetrius loves Hermia and not her, Helena says that though she is as beautiful as Hermia, Demetrius cannot see her beauty. Helena adds that she dotes on Demetrius (though not all of his qualities are admirable) in the same way that he dotes on Hermia. She believes that love has the power to transform “base and vile” qualities into “form and dignity”—that is, even ugliness and bad behavior can seem attractive to someone in love. This is the case, she argues, because “love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind”—love depends not on an objective assessment of appearance but rather on an individual perception of the beloved. These lines prefigure aspects of the play’s examination of love, such as Titania’s passion for the ass-headed Bottom, which epitomizes the transformation of the “base and vile” into “form and dignity.” 3. Lord, what fools these mortals be! Puck makes this declaration in his amazement at the ludicrous behavior of the young Athenians (III.ii.115).

This line is one of the most famous in A Midsummer Night’s Dream for its pithy humor, but it is also thematically important: first, because it captures the exaggerated silliness of the lovers’ behavior; second, because it marks the contrast between the human lovers, completely absorbed in their emotions, and the magical fairies, impish and never too serious. 4. I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream past the wit of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass if he go about t’expound this dream. Methought I was—there is no man can tell what. Methought I was, and methought I had—but man is but a patched fool if he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report what my dream was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream. It shall be called ‘Bottom’s Dream’, because it hath no bottom.

Bottom makes this bombastic speech after he wakes up from his adventure with Titania; his human head restored, he believes that his experience as an ass-headed monster beloved by the beautiful fairy queen was merely a bizarre dream (IV.i.199–209). He remarks dramatically that his dream is beyond human comprehension; then, contradicting himself, he says that he will ask Quince to write a ballad about this dream. These lines are important partially because they offer humorous commentary on the theme of dreams throughout the play but also because they crystallize much of what is so lovable and amusing about Bottom. His overabundant self-confidence burbles out in his grandiose idea that although no one could possibly understand his dream, it is worthy of being immortalized in a poem. His tendency to make melodramatic rhetorical mistakes manifests itself plentifully, particularly in his comically mixed-up association of body parts and senses: he suggests that eyes can hear, ears see, hands taste, tongues think, and hearts speak. 5.

Question: From which Shakespeare play doesthe quotation, "Lord what fools these mortals be", come?
Answer: 'A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM'